Refrigerating mechanism



Oct. 4, 1932. V F. R. WEST 1,881,006

REFRIGERATING MECHANI SM Filed Dec. 4. 1929 IN VEN TOR E 1 Frank FRI Vest y Patented Oct. 4, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK B. WEST, OF HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO COPELAND PRODUC'I'S, INC., A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN BEFBIGERATING MECHANISM Application filed December 4, 1929. Serial No. 411,402.

This invention relates to mechanical refrigerating mechanism and particularly'to that household type thereof in which the mechanism is positioned in the bottom of the refrigerating cabinet, the principal object being the provision of an arrangement of the parts of the mechanism and the cabinet whereby the front and side faces of the cabinet are unbroken by the presence of louvers without affecting the cooling efficiency of the condenser.

Another object is to provide a mechanical refrigerating mechanism of the air cooled household type, in which air from immediately adjacent the fioor supporting the refrigerator is employed for cooling the condenser.

Another object is the provision of a refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment in the bottom thereof, the front and side faces of the compartment being devoid of air circulation openings, and the bottom of the cabinet being supported in spaced relation to the floor and being provided with an opening serving as an intake for the cooling air for the condensing mechanism within the compartment.

Another object is the provision of a mechanical refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment on the bottom thereof, the front and side faces of which are closed to the circulation of air, the bottom of the cabinet being supported in spaced relation with respect .to the floor whereby to permit passage of air beneath the cabinet, and the bottom of the unit compartment being open, a base for the refrigerating mechanism closing the rear portion of the open bottom of the unit compartment and supporting thereon the compressing and condensing units, the rear face of the cabinet being provided with an opening in line with the condensing unit, and a fan being provided for drawing air up through the bottom of the compartment and forcing it through the opening.

The above being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described With reference to the accompanying drawing, and then claimed, having the above and other objects in view.

' In the accompanying drawing which shows a suitable embodiment of the present invention, and in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several different views,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a refrigerator cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig; 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken as on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing the mechanism supported within the lower part of the cabinet.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken as on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In that type of household refrigerating mechanism in which all of the mechanism is supported and housed within a single cabinet, the lower portion of the cabinet is usually provided with a com partmcnt in which the compressing and condensing units are disposed. It is the usual practice to provide an open back wall for such compartment, or an opening in the back wall of such compartment, for the exhausting of the air for cooling the condensing unit, and openings or louvers in the front or side faces of the cabinet for the admission of the air for cooling the condensing unit into the compartment.

These openings in the front or side faces of the cabinet are more or less unsightly and have a tendency to collect dust around the same. I am aware that constructions have been heretofore proposed for eliminating the presence of these openings in the front and side faces of the cabinet for the introduction of air for cooling the condensing unit, but as far as I am aware these constructions have been more or less unsatisfactory and not as eilicient as desired. lhc present invention provides a construction which eliminates any opcningsin the front or side faces of the cabinet for the introduction of air for cooling the condensing unit, but still insures as direct and eliicient a flow of air thru the condensing unit as is possible in the conventional types of construction.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, I show a refrigerator cabinet 10 having a cooling compartment closed by the doors 11 and a unit compartment closed by the door 12 which is entirely free of any aperture whatsoever permitting the circulation of air throu h the same; likewise the side faces of the ca inet are entirely free from such openings. The refrigerator cabinet adjacent the bottom of the unit compartment is (provided with a pair of horizontally exten i rails 13, a horizontally extending front rail 14 and a horizontally extending rear rail 15, the bottom of the cabinet being otherwise open. Extending between the side rails 13 and overlapping the same and the rear rail 15 is a horizontally extending and preferably substantially imperforate plate 16 upon which is supported the compressor 17, the motor 18 which is connected with the compressor 17 by the belt 19, the condenser 20 and receiver 21, all of which are connected together in a conventional manner not shown. The supporting plate 16 thus eifects a closure for the rear portion only of the open bottom of the unit compartment. The rear face of the unit compartment is provided with a closure 22 which is provided with an opening 23 in line with the condenser 20 which is supported in adjacent relationship to the rear wall 22, and which opening is preferably of substantially the same dimensions as the face of the condenser 20. The

motor 18 is provided with a fan 24 in line with the condenser 20'and opening 23. The bottom face of the cabinet 10 is supported in spaced relation with respect to the floor 25 by means of corner legs 26 whichwhile necessarily high enough to space the bottom of the cabinet a sufiicient distance from the floor topermit the free flow of air under the same-are preferably no higher than is necessary for this purpose, for instance, two inches.

The operation of the construction will be obvious. Thefan 24 in being rotated will suck air into the unit compartment through the open bottom of the same forwardly of the supporting plate 16 which serves as a baflle, and will drive the air through the condenser and out of the compartment through the opening 23 in the rear wall, thus setting up a positive circulation of air through the condenser. Moreover, in taking the air for coolingthe condenser directly from the floor 25, the coolest air in any room in which the refrigerator may be placed will thus be employed for cooling purposes. I have found that this feature considerably increases the efficiency of the cooling mechanism for the condensing unit.

While I have shown the unit compartment as being provided with the rear wall 22, it will be apparent that in some cases this rear wall may be eliminated entirely without materially effecting the efliciency of the cooling mechanism, and these and other formal ng side changes maybe made in the specific embodi ment of the invention shown without. departing from the spirit or substance'of the road invention, the scope of whichis commensurate with the appended claims.

I claim: p

1. In a cabinetfora mechanical refrigerating mechanism, in combination meansfor supporting said cabinet from a floor for the flow of air below the same, a compartment in the lower portion of said cabinet, one of the vertical walls of said cabinet having an opening therein'for the passage of air therethrough and the remaining vertical walls of said cabinet being imperforate, the bottom of said compartment being open, a unit base supported within said compartment and forming a baflle for closing the portion of said open bottom adjacent the perforated vertical wall, a condenser supported by said base in proximity to said opening in said side wall, a motor supported on said base,

and a fan,',positioned to suck air through said bottom and force it out through said opening, in driving relation with respect to said motor.

2. In combination with a refrigerator cabinet having a unit'compartment in the lower portion thereof, means forsupporting said cabinet to permit the flow of air under the same, said cabinet having vertical walls, one of which has an opening in it, the others being imperforate, a refrigerator unit supporting plate extending between the vertical walls and closing that bottom portion of the compartment next to the perforate vertical wall, whereby the bottomvof the compartment is open adjacent the vertical wall opposite the perforate wall, a refrigerating unit on the plate, the unit including a condenser adjacent the opening in the vertical wall, and a driven fan adjacent the condenser.

3. In combination with a-refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment in the lower portion thereof, means for supporting said cabinet to permit the flow of air under the same, said cabinet having vertical walls, one of which has an opening in it, the others being imperforate, arefrigerator unit supporting plate extending between the vertical walls and closing that bottom portion of the compartment next to the perforate vertical wall, whereby the bottom of the'compartment is open adjacent the vertical wall opposite the perforate wall, a refrigerating .unit on the plate, the unit including a condenser adjacent the opening in the vertical wall, and a driven fan adjacent the condenser, said condens- .er and opening in the vertical wall being of substantially the same peripheral size.

4. In combination with a refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment in the lower portion thereof, means for supporting said cabinet to permit the flow of air under the same, said cabinet having vertical walls, one

of which has an opening in it, the others being imperforate, a refrigerator unit supporting plate extending between the vertical walls and closing that bottom portion of the compartment next to the perforate vertical wall, whereby the bottom of the compartment is open adjacent the vertical wall opposite the perforate wall, a refrigerating unit on the plate, the unit including a condenser adjacent the opening in the vertical wall, and a driven fan adjacent the condenser, said condenser and opening in the vertical wall being of substantially the same peripheral size, and being disposed closely adjacent the opening.

5. In combination with a refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment in the lower portion thereof, means for supporting said cabinet to permit the flow of air under the same, said cabinet having vertical walls, one of which has an opening in it, the others be ing imperforate, a refrigerator unit supporting plate extending between the vertical walls and closing that bottom portion of the com partment next to the perforate vertical wall, whereby the bottom of the compartment is open adjacent the vertical wall opposite the perforate wall, a refrigerating unit on the plate, the unit including a condenser adjacent the opening in the vertical wall, and a driven fan adjacent the condenser, said condenser and opening in the vertical wall being of substantially the same peripheral size, and being disposed closely adjacent the opening, the fan being of a diameter substantially equal to the width of the condenser and opening in the vertical wall.

6. In combination with a. refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment in the lower portion thereof, meansfor supporting said cabinet to permit the flow of air under the same, said cabinet having vertical walls, one of which has an opening in it, the others being imperforate, a refrigerator unit supporting plate extending between the vertical walls and closing that bottom portion of the compartment next to theperforate vertical wall, whereby the bottom of the compartment is open adjacent the vertical wall opposite the perforate wall, a refrigerating unit on the plate, the unit including a condenser adja cent the opening in the vertical wall, and a driven fan adjacent the condenser, said fan being of a diameter substantially equal to the width of the condenser,

7. In combination with a refrigerator cabinet having a unit compartment in the lower portion thereof, means for supporting said cabinet to permit the flow of air under the same, said cabinet having vertical walls, one of which has an opening in it, the others being imperforate, a refrigerator unit supporting plate extending between the vertical walls and closing that bottom portion of the compartment next to the perforate vertical wall, whereby the bottom of the compartment is FRANK R. WEST. 

